Many business software charting packages exist to allow users to easily create and display data in visual forms. Some common visual forms include pie charts, line charts, bar charts, bubble charts, radar charts, etc. Typically the way these packages work is that the user specifies certain data, and then manually specifies the chart type and any options that may be needed to use that chart type to present the data. For example, the user may select a series of income-related transactions, indicate that he wants to see a line chart, and then indicate that the line chart should display total income per month. While this provides flexibility to the user in choosing various visualizations, it can sometimes be difficult or cumbersome for the user to select which visualization to use and which options to select.
Alternatively, some business software packages have a chart type hardwired into the system. For example, the software may simply always use a line chart. While this puts less burden on the user to select a chart, it also obviously reduces the flexibility of the software package.
A hybrid alternative utilized by some business software packages is to provide the user with a wizard, which is a step-by-step interaction, for specifying the chart type and the options needed to use that chart type to present the data. However, fundamentally, the user is still in a position where he must specify the desired visualization.
The typical business user wishes to see their data in some visual form. However, they are not interested in the process of identifying what form of visualization is best suited for their data. What is needed is a solution where the user identifies the data he wishes to use, and then the system automatically decides what visualization is best suited to present the data.